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CWI mathematician and computer scientist Monique Laurent opened the World Women in Mathematics event (WM)² in Rio de Janeiro on 31 July with the keynote lecture 'Convergence analysis of approximation hierarchies for polynomial optimization'. The daylong satellite event (WM)² united women mathematicians from all over the world and preceded the International Congress of Mathematicians, which took place from 1-9 August 2018.

Celina Herrera (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) pointed out that research in this area of computer science is very strong in Latin America, saying it’s “inspiring” to have Monique Laurent here in Rio. Monique Laurent highlighted the importance of young female mathematicians having a professional network when starting their careers. "The idea of having a network is very important. It’s very touching to be part of this community. It brings me great joy to be here, as part of this big family."

Monique Laurent is a member of the CWI management team since 2016, having led the Networks and Optimization research group at CWI from 2005 – 2016. She is also part-time full professor at the Department of Econometrics and Operations Research at Tilburg University since 2009. She was an invited lecturer at the 2014 International Congress of Mathematicians in Seoul, South Korea.